Antique Inboards

[csuggs]

So I was surfin' the net the other day and ran across this site that some of you might take interest in. There's some pretty cool wooden inboards on here - many of them for sale. Check it out . . .

http://www.antiqueboat.com/

[Okie Boarder]

That is cool! I've seen some pretty cool wooden, antique inboard boats on some of these forums!

[87SunSportMikeyD]

I heard that over winter the wood dries out and you have to somehow soak it to make it expand in the spring? I heard something about submerging or soaking the boat but that cant be right lol.

Is the motor at all comparable to ours?

[csuggs]

I think the older wooden boats are that way - but many of these rebuilt ones are treated so that the wood does not shrink and cause leaks. I know people with wooden boats that either put them in the water in the spring and leave the bilges running 24/7 until the wood swells; or they put the boat in a sling and lower into the water, leaving it in the sling until the wood swells. I've also seen them sink because the bilges could not keep up! After it swells, you're good to go. Most of the antique boats on the sight I linked to have a special coating on the bottom to prevent the shrinking.

[chautauquasun]

When I was a kid my parents had a 1949 Chris-Craft with a flat head six engine. It was an awesome boat but the work was unbearable every year to get it in the water. My parents ended up getting rid of it was I was about 7 or 8. I so wish I still had it now.

My Dad told me a story about it when they first got the boat that he and my uncle launched it into the water and started down the lake with it. They were not all that familar with wooden boats and didn't wait to let the wood swell. When the were in the middle of the lake it started leaking like a sive...my dad said they had it wide open to get to the dock and were bailing like mad with the bilge going. I would have loved to have seen that. The wood finally swelled up enough to stop it leaking but he said the were really $*itting themselves out in the middle of the lake...to top it all off my Dad can't swim.

I love the old wooden boats and wish we still had the 49 Chris-Craft.

[csuggs]

That's pretty funny Dan. It's crazy how the old-timers did it, but it worked. My wife's family has a 40' 1941 Chris Craft that I've been out on. It was completely restored years ago, but now sits in a barn collecting dust and whatever else is in there. Pretty cool boat - classic design, twin inboards, lots of room, etc. It would be nice to have that back out on the river to use as home base for skiing, wakeboarding, etc.

[tomelenbaas]

My hope is to one day own an 18-foot '52 Chris Craft Riviera (my birth year - yeah, I'm that old). Wouldn't want to do anything with it but cruise, so I'll always have my ski boat too.

Many of the older boats have had fiberglass hulls put on them - up to the water line - so that soaking the wood is not necessary. Otherwise, you do need to soak the wood to let it swell before launching.

Many of the older boats have also had modern engines installed. But the original engines are plenty powerful for just cruising, and my preference would be to keep the boat as original as possible.

Gotta go buy my lottery ticket.